1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, in one embodiment, to a spectroscopic method and apparatus for detecting the degree of food spoilage of a food sample.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Over the past several decades, concerns have been raised on food safety due to the addition and generation of pathogen within the meat and other kinds of food for public consumption and health. These concerns, along with concerns over specific pathogenic bacteria within meats (namely Salmonella spp., E. coli 0157:117, and Campylobacter spp.) have focused attention on the requirement for a rapid (less than a few minutes) and accurate detection techniques for microbiologically spoiled or contaminated meat. There are a limited number of conventional methods proposed to detect spoilage in muscle foods. These method are time-consuming and labor-intensive, and give retrospective information.
Therefore, an improved method for detecting spoilage of food is desired.